Chapter 9 - THE TRUTH UNDER THE STEEL
I found Mason Reed near the engine room.
He was waiting.
“You got the message.”
I showed him my phone.
His face changed.
“He contacted you.”
“Yes.”
“That shouldn’t be possible.”
“Neither should a dead man sending messages.”
Reed looked exhausted.
“Daniel built a backup system.”
“For what?”
“In case they erased him.”
We entered a maintenance area hidden behind the engine controls.
Reed connected the drive.
The screen filled with files.
Videos.
Documents.
Audio recordings.
I opened the first video.
Daniel Cross appeared.
Older.
Tired.
Scared.
“If you’re watching this, then I failed.”
The recording shook slightly.
“But someone needs to know what happened.”
Daniel looked behind him.
“Deck Four was never a storage area.”
My breathing slowed.
“It was a transfer point.”
“Transfer point for what?”
The video cut.
Another file opened.
Names appeared.
A list.
People who had entered Deck Four.
People who had left.
And people who disappeared.
My stomach turned.
“This is impossible.”
Reed shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed at the screen.
“It’s real.”
Then another file appeared.
A security recording.
Date:
Eighteen months earlier.
The camera showed Deck Four.
I watched people moving boxes.
Then a figure entered.
A uniform.
A rank.
A face.
I froze.
Because I recognized him.
Not Kane.
Not Voss.
Someone I had trusted.
Someone who had welcomed me aboard.
The video zoomed in.
And the truth appeared.
May you like
The person controlling Deck Four was…
Commander Elena Brooks.
